Call centres are among the most successful business currently on the marketplace. The success of each telephone answering service depends on several factors including the dedication and knowledge of their agents, the quality of the equipment that they use and the expertise of the managers running the place. Without the proper management, no call centre outsourcing can provide work for very long. Each contract must be properly managed otherwise word will spread and no more business will flow your way. There are ways to manage outsourced call centres successfully and we will look at a few of them in the following article.

Organisation

The first thing that all telephone answering service managers should know is how to organise themselves properly. Being on top of all the contracts that the company is responsible for can be a very challenging proposition. Unless the managers are aware of each contract and the requirements of each one it will be tough for them to be able to properly manage their time and their resource to make sure that the mandate for each contract is met. One good way to make sure that the managers stay on top of what needs to get done, is to have a manager for each group of call centres agents and not give each group more than three contracts to handle at one time.

Training

Each call centre outsourcing facility should give their managers and their agents both basic and in-depth training on how to properly field calls, close sales, set meetings and talk to people in general. A well-trained agent will be able to increase productivity and performance exponentially, whereas an untrained agent can, and will, end up costing you a lot – including customers. Therefore, all properly managed call centres will include monthly training sessions for all of their staff – including managers.

Sales & Advertising

Properly run call centres all have a good sales and marketing team. Finding clients to avail themselves of the call centre outsourcing facilities means that your call centre will have to do some form of advertising and sales in order to create an awareness of your company’s existence. Furthermore, without a crack sales team on your side, you may not be able to close many deals. Good sales people are worth their weight in gold and it is best to have as many of them on staff as you can afford.

Facilities

All well managed call centres have the proper facilities for their agents to work in. Without the latest technology when it comes to telephones, headsets, computers, cubicles and other necessary pieces of office equipment/furniture, your agents will not be able to perform to their fullest capacity. It might require a considerable initial investment on your part, but it will be worth the money in the long run.

Properly managing and operating successful call centres is just like operating any other business – except that you are dealing with people and so you have to make sure that everyone you hire is a "people person" and does not mind working with the public.